


1 GU3SS W3 BOTH TURN3D OUT TO B3 PR3TTY COOL

by noodlerdoodler



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Gen, If you squint there's some Davekat, Like seriously it's mainly Dave monologuing, One Shot, Post-Update Fic, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 21:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6487690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noodlerdoodler/pseuds/noodlerdoodler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where are the influential speeches when you need them? You know, for sure, if this was an anime or a movie, you would get up now. You would wipe the blood from your mouth, look at Asshole One and Asshole Two through your messy hair with a dark look on your face. You would say something about how friendship and love fuelled you, before proceeding to beat the shit out of Asshole One and Two, while Dirk and Terezi watch on in amazement. Or, uh, Terezi would listen in amazement or something. Regardless, you don't get up.</p>
<p>(You push away the thought that Karkat could have made a pretty great speech if he were here. You hope he's okay...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1 GU3SS W3 BOTH TURN3D OUT TO B3 PR3TTY COOL

Your name is Dave Strider and you are on your knees- not in the way you might think. Not in a sexy kind of way but in a bleeding on the floor and on the verge of giving up this fight altogether kind of way. Yeah, in a strifing kind of way. But this is worse than any strife you've ever been in. 

Truth is, you just got the shit knocked out of you by an asshole wearing all black. It's hard to say which one because both assholes you're fighting are wearing all black. You wonder if they coordinated that so that they would look badass or if it was just a happy coincidence like how cool you and Dirk look in opposing God Tier outfits. Anyway, you're not sure which one it was that knocked you down this time. And you've been knocked down a few times already. Maybe it was the one with the flashing eyes that rivalled even Captor's. Maybe it was the one with the bitching eye patch. Either way, you're down and you're not sure that you can get back up again. 

Where are the influential speeches when you need them? You know, for sure, if this was an anime or a movie, you would get up now. You would wipe the blood from your mouth, look at Asshole One and Asshole Two through your messy hair with a dark look on your face. You would say something about how friendship and love fuelled you, before proceeding to beat the shit out of Asshole One and Two, while Dirk and Terezi watch on in amazement. Or, uh, Terezi would listen in amazement or something. Regardless, you don't get up.

(You push away the thought that Karkat could have made a pretty great speech if he were here. You hope he's okay...) 

Because you've been knocked down and this time, what feels like the hundreth time today, you're not sure that you can get up. You keep pushing yourself back onto your feet but this time, you wonder if you even can. You want to keep slashing the shit out of people until you can't anymore- but that's just it, you think you might have reached your limit. Every single part of your body hurts, you're exhausted, and you've forgotten what anything other than fighting feels like. Your skin is on fire, a pretty disgusting mix of sweat and blood forming on your skin. 

The peace of what you think was twenty minutes ago feels like years ago. Maybe it was because, you know, awesome time powers and all that. When it comes to time, you can be a little... Interchangeable. Maybe you've been fighting longer than you think. God, you hope so. Because if you gave up after twenty minutes, you'd feel pathetic. 

"D4V3, YOU OK4Y?" comes Terezi's voice as she's knocked onto her ass and tumbles over backwards. She lands on her face, her legs up in the air. From the looks of things, she gets scraped pretty badly but she's back on her feet in seconds. Terezi leaps back up, swords at the ready. She is kicking ass today. You should get back up too, you should fight, but you're not sure you have it in you. You're not sure any of you have it in you to win. 

You realise, suddenly, that you might not win. You, Dirk, and Terezi might die here today. The thought makes goosebumps break out all over your skin, making you shudder. 

"Yeah. Yeah, sure, I'm fine. Taking a break from being awesome. You know how it is." You mutter, shifting to figure out which part of your body hurts the most. You are smeared in a red substance that you don't want to think about but you have no idea where it came from. It might not even be your blood, you think, and it sends chills down your spine again. Is it cold? You're cold. You just want to go home... Wherever home is, now. 

That's when a heavy hand lands on your shoulder, a hand that you can recognise from many, many strifes from growing up. Not that Dirk is exactly like Bro but they're similar enough. When you were young, your Bro would always help you back up like this. When you got old enough that you didn't need to, he looked so proud that you got back up on your own. 

"Bro." You mumble, before correcting yourself, "I mean... Dirk." 

"You okay there, bro?" Dirk asks and his arm slides around you, hooking under your arm so he can heave you back onto your feet, "Don't worry, I think this whole thing is gonna be over real soon. You just gotta hang in there, right? We're gonna make it. I just know that we're gonna make it. We're Striders, after all. We always make it." 

You wrap your arm around him, trying not to cry or anything because: a. You're having an emotional moment (obviously) and b. Your leg hurts like a bitch. You look at him and Dirk is bleeding too, the gross substance seeping through his fancy gear. But he smiles at you anyway, an odd mouth twitch that you've come to think of as bro love, and makes sure you're steady. Then, he turns back to where Asshole One and Two are waiting for you. 

"C'mon, Dave." Dirk says. 

Yeah, he's right. C'mon. Giving up now wouldn't fix anything but at least... If you go down, you're going to go down in the fight. You're not going to sit by whilst two of your favourite people get their asses kicked. You'll be right here to defend, like the knight you are, and you steady yourself. You wield your sword, ready. 

When Dirk lets go of you, you wish he hadn't. But you don't have time to dwell. 

You're back to fighting Asshole One and Asshole Two. 

"D4V3, 1 GU3SS W3 BOTH TURN3D OUT TO B3 PR3TTY COOL, HUH?" Terezi yells, at one point, when you briefly cross paths. That's enough to make you grin a little, putting a little more force into your hits. Because you are pale as shit (or however the trolls say it) for that idiot and damnit if she's not right. You're going to fight hard with her. 

"Damn straight, Pyrope!" You yell back, "I'm glad you got my back!"

She offers you one of her bat-shit insane grins and a high five. You oblige happily, before returning to fighting. Jeez, you have got to tell her to chill the PPDA, (Pale Public Displays of Affection), and keep them off the battlefield. You've got no time for bro-flirting. Actually, you've got plenty of _time_ on your hands but that's beside the point. 

So far, you think Dirk is fucking liar because at this point, it looks like the strife could go either way. It's not going to end any time soon. Nothing is stopping the assholes from claiming the victory other than your team's pure stubbornness. Everybody knows how stubborn the Striders can be when they fight for something important- and you and Dirk both know this is important. This is life-or-death important. This isn't fighting with your Bro on the roof, this is fighting for your life. And that scares you more than anything. The idea that could die. 

The idea that you could die without seeing Karkat again. 

You're so caught up in your own thoughts that you don't realise something's happened until you realise that there's nobody left to fight. You spin round to look but don't catch sight of either of the dickwads that you had previously been beating the crap out of. You end up face to face with Terezi. There's a look on her face that looks sorta like pity- diamonds flashing in her empty eyes- before she shrugs at you. Her shrug is followed by a wince. She doesn't know what's going on either. You look for Team Assholes. 

_There._

Dirk, your kinda older brother from another universe, is being held with a blade against his neck. He's struggling, not enough to provoke the blade digging deeper into his skin but enough for it to be obvious. Behind him, Asshole One is being held by Asshole Two. Nobody makes any sudden movements; you exchange quick glances with Terezi before remembering that she's blind and can't exchange looks with you, before looking back to your brother. He looks pained, scared even, and that surprises you. Seeing Dirk look like that sends reality crashing down around you. Seeing Dirk look scared, even a little. He doesn't seem to be able to break free. 

You are never going to win this. Unless... 

Dirk gives you a pointed look and you exchange stares, communicating silently. Thanking whatever deity that might exist for your quick thinking, a plan begins to form in your mind. It's messy and it might not work and you wish you had more time (fucking time powers should be able to slow down time- that would be awesome) but there isn't any left. The clock is running out. You look at Dirk, pinned in place, and realise that there's only one way to finish the fight. He knows it too, though perhaps he's not thinking exactly the same thing you are. 

There's only one way that you can possibly win and it involves doing something that you've never wanted to do. Since this game got so batshit-crazy, you've always feared losing people close to you. And now, you have to intentionally cut Dirk off, intentionally lose him. Even if it is only for a few moments, (if your plan works that is), you don't want to do it. 

"D4V3, WH4T 4R3 YOU DO1NG?" Terezi asks, as you raise your sword. She probably hears the swish of the blade swinging upwards or the blood that's pounding so furiously in your ears or your breath catching in your throat. You don't want to do this. 

"What I have to do." You tell her, "Be ready." 

"DON'T D13." She advises, "YOUR3 MY B3ST FR13ND." 

The entire conversation happens in a flash of a second and you don't get a chance to reply because your feet are already pounding against the ground. You're running. You're running towards your brother and the two idiots holding him captive. And your sword is ready. You should have told Terezi she was your best friend too. You should have told Karkat that you were ready to suffer through his fucking quadrants if it meant being with with him. There's a million things you should have done and they flash before your eyes as you run. 

You just wish that Dirk wasn't making steady eye-contact with you as you run towards him, swinging your sword. Please, please, please let this work. You have to close your eyes tightly so that you don't see your sword slicing through... No, you can't even think it. You can't think about what you're doing, as you grab your brother's... Head... Decapitated head- you can't think about that. You grab it. 

"Terezi, for gods sake, hold onto me." You're running towards her. 

"YOU GOT 1T, D4V3!" She catches you by the arm at the same time you grip her. 

And you do grab Terezi by the arm, gripping her tightly, as you turn back time. As a bright light flashes before your eyes and the numbers flick backwards, as you literally fall backwards through time, you're only aware of Dirk's head in your arm and Terezi holding onto you tightly. You can't be sure but you think she might be yelling something, clutching you desperately so that she doesn't get left behind. You make sure she doesn't. 

"Dirk, you just gotta hang in there, right? We're gonna make it. I just know that we're gonna make it." You say, even though there's no way he can hear you. You're not even sure how sound works when you're travelling through time. Hell, you don't even know how you're talking right now. But you just need to say for his sake as well as your own. Because your plan will work. You have to make it work. 

Time shenanigans, man, they always work.


End file.
